CLERMONT, Fla. - St. Catherine softball team concluded their annual spring break trip Thursday with back to back wins to advance their overall record to 10-6 this season. The Wildcats opened their final day in Florida with a 2-1 win over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. St. Kate's faced the College of New Rochelle out of New York, coming back in dramatic fashion in the 6th inning to win 6-5 over the Blue Angels.
Game 1 St. Catherine 2, UW-River Falls 1
The duo of senior left fielder
Anna Hinderaker and first-year shortstop
Alex Ehde started things off right away in the opening inning for the Wildcats against the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) contender from just across the border. Hinderaker got things started with a triple to right field followed by Ehde driving in the senior with a double to take a quick 1-0 lead.
St. Kate's added to the lead in the top of the third inning as senior third baseman
Jenna George hit a single to center field to bring in Hinderaker who got on base with a walk and stealing second for a score of 2-0.
The Falcons scored their lone run of the game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 6th inning with first-year
Annabelle Schutte in the circle. Schutte collected in the win the game pitching 6 innings, allowing just 1 hit and 1 run while collecting 4 strikeouts but committing the one error before being relieved by sophomore
Kathryn Proper. The rookie pitcher has appeared in 9 games this season with a season ERA of 2.38, good for 12th in the MIAC.
The Wildcats combined for a total of 27 at bats, 6 hits and 2 runs in the win.
Game 2 St. Catherine 6, College of New Rochelle 5
St. Kate's second game of the day and final of the Spring Games ended in favor of the Wildcats after coming from behind in the sixth inning.
Ehde paired up with junior center fielder
Amber Montero in the second game for back to back doubles off the wall to take a 1-0 lead over the Blue Angels in the bottom of the first inning.
The Wildcats were challenged in the top of the second inning as the team from New York brought in 4 runs but answered back in the latter part of the inning scoring two runs to trail by one after two complete innings.
New Rochelle scored what would be their final run of the game in the top of the 4th inning to take a 5-3 lead over St. Kate's.
With sophomore
Mikayla Grant and Hinderaker both on base following errors, George hit a three-run homerun to secure the 6-5 win over the Blue Angels.
Appearing 32 times at the plate, the Wildcats collected 10 hits and 6 runs with 5 doubles. George led St. Kate's with 3 RBI and captured her second homerun of the season.
Proper collected the win in the circle for St. Kate's extending her record to 6-5 in her sophomore campaign. In the six innings pitches, Proper allowed 7 hits and 3 runs adding 3 strikeouts to her season total of 42 ranking her No. 4 in the MIAC.
The Wildcats are scheduled to start conference play as they return to St. Paul following the 6-2 week in Florida.
